Are Consumers Put off by Retargeted Ads on Social Media? Evidence for Perceptions of Marketing Surveillance and Decreased Ad Effectiveness
Open accessAbstract
Consumers have described retargeted ads as “creepy,” possibly because these ads cue consumers that marketers are collecting personal data. Participants (N = 280) were either exposed to an ad that was targeted to past online behaviors or a general product ad. Behavioral targeting had a positive direct effect on purchase intent, but it also set off a negative indirect effect. Those exposed to behavioral targeting experienced increased perceived marketing surveillance, which led to increased threat, increased psychological reactance, negative attitudes toward the ad, and negative purchase intention. The indirect cost of perceived marketing surveillance on purchase intent was 4.5 percent.
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Perceptions of surveillance could lead to more resistance to the message.
“Moreover, these perceptions of surveillance could lead to more resistance to the message (Farman et al., 2020;Segijn et al., 2021) and could also affect people's media use, such as using less media, using media differently, or consuming different media content (Büchi et al., 2020;McDonald & Cranor, 2010;Stiff, 2019;Strycharz et al., 2022).”
From The validation of the Perceived Surveillance Scale (2022) · cites this paper as Farman et al., 2020
Perceived surveillance has been proposed as an underlying mechanism of resistance toward personalized communication.
“For example, perceived surveillance has been proposed as an underlying mechanism of resistance toward personalized communication (Farman et al., 2020)”
From The validation of the Perceived Surveillance Scale (2022) · cites this paper as Farman et al., 2020
Perceived surveillance negatively affects personalization outcomes because perceived surveillance increases resistance to a personalized message.
“Moreover, perceived surveillance negatively affects personalization outcomes (e.g., attitudes and behavioral intentions) because perceived surveillance increases resistance to a personalized message (Farman et al., 2020).”
From The validation of the Perceived Surveillance Scale (2022) · cites this paper as Farman et al., 2020
Perceptions of increased surveillance have been associated with resistance to persuasion.
“While perceptions of (increased) surveillance have shown to be associated with resistance to persuasion (Farman, Comello, and Edwards 2020;Segijn, Kim, et al. 2021;Sifaoui, Lee, and Segijn 2023), perceptions of surveillance may not always affect how people respond to a message in the same way.”
From The Role of Perceived Surveillance and Privacy Cynicism in Effects of Multiple Synced Advertising Exposures on Brand Attitude (2024) · cites this paper as Farman, Comello, and Edwards 2020
Surveillance in the context of personalized advertising can negatively impact brand attitudes.
“As a result, surveillance in the context of personalized advertising can negatively impact brand attitudes (Farman, Comello, and Edwards 2020).”
From The Role of Perceived Surveillance and Privacy Cynicism in Effects of Multiple Synced Advertising Exposures on Brand Attitude (2024) · cites this paper as Farman, Comello, and Edwards 2020
Perceived surveillance may result in increased resistance to the advertising message and negatively affect the impact of advertisement for which personal data are being used.
“That is, as perceived surveillance refers to the uncomfortable feeling of being watched, it may result in increased resistance to the advertising message and hence negatively affect the impact of advertisement for which personal data are being used (e.g., Farman, Comello, and Edwards 2020;Segijn and van Ooijen 2021;Segijn, Opree, and van Ooijen 2022;Sifaoui, Lee, and Segijn 2023).”
From The Role of Perceived Surveillance and Privacy Cynicism in Effects of Multiple Synced Advertising Exposures on Brand Attitude (2024) · cites this paper as Farman, Comello, and Edwards 2020
Perceived surveillance in the context of personalized advertising increases reactance to the ad and induces other forms of resistance.
“Research has found that perceived surveillance in the context of personalized advertising increases reactance to the ad (Farman, Comello, and Edwards 2020) and induces other forms of resistance (Segijn, Kim, et al. 2021).”
From The Role of Perceived Surveillance and Privacy Cynicism in Effects of Multiple Synced Advertising Exposures on Brand Attitude (2024) · cites this paper as Farman, Comello, and Edwards 2020
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“In line with the definition of surveillance (Solove, 2006), and the previous research described, respondents answered whether viewing the ad made them feel: watched, observed, followed, and tracked (M = 3.”
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The validation of the Perceived Surveillance Scale
Segijn, C. M., Opree, S. J., & Van Ooijen, I. (2022) · Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace · doi:10.5817/cp2022-3-9 · Cited by 41 · see citing works
Strycharz, J., & Segijn, C. M. (2024) · Journal of Business Research · doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2023.114490 · Cited by 38 · see citing works
Segijn, C. M., Kim, E., & van Ooijen, I. (2024) · Journal of Current Issues & Research in Advertising · doi:10.1080/10641734.2024.2318711 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
“…it may result in increased resistance to the advertising message and hence negatively affect the impact of advertisement for which personal data are being used (e.g., Farman, Comello, and Edwards 2020; Segijn and van Ooijen 2021; Segijn, Opree, and van Ooijen 2022; Sifaoui, Lee, and Segijn 2023).”
Influential
- Authors
- Farman, L., Comello, M. L. (., & Edwards, J. R.
- Affiliations
- Ithaca College (US)
- Hussman School of Journalism and Media, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (US)
- Corresponding author
- Farman, Lisa
- Venue
- Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2020-05-01
- Volume
- 64
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 298-319
- ISSN
- 0883-8151 (ISSN-L)
- 1550-6878
- OpenAlex
- W3035199902
- Cited by
- 48
- References
- 9
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 3
- FWCI
- 5.67
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- doi.org
- Locations
- Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media (publishedVersion)
- Carolina Digital Repository (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) (submittedVersion)
- Digital Collections - Ithaca College Library (Ithaca College) (submittedVersion, public-domain)
- UNC Libraries
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Digital Marketing and Social Media
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Privacy, Security, and Data Protection
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Marketing › Marketing and Advertising Strategies
- Keywords
- behavioral targeting, social media advertising, reactance, purchase intention, consumer attitudes toward advertising, personal data collection, threat perception, advertising effectiveness
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